To work on my video production business expenditures, I have already tried to reduce my fixed expenses by negotiating with monthly vendors such as your landlord, Internet service provider, Telephone Company, etc. That’s a lot of money you’ll be able to save just by picking up the phone and asking questions regarding how you can bring your costs down.

After I went through this exercise some time ago, I started to think about how I could bring my monthly expenses down as it relates to my overall business debt. Right now, I pay almost $10,000 dollars a month in business debt that I took on some time ago in order to grow my business with equipment, real-estate and personnel. No, that’s not a typo.

Even though I have since “right-sized” my video business and it is profitable in its current state, I still owe the debt. Currently, the payment plans I’m on will have me out of debt in 3 years. That’s great but I’m no longer happy about having to pay so much money each month and I believe I can get a better interest rate.

My plan: To get a single bank to roll ALL my business debt into one large loan for a term of 5 years at a 6% interest rate. If I’m successful in doing this, I will reduce my overall monthly debt payments by $6,000.

Yes, you read that correctly! Once the loan is finalized, my video business will immediately increase its monthly profit by $6,000. That’s $72,000 extra a year that will be in my pocket instead of the pockets of my lenders. Plus, it will be a single check written each month instead of multiple.

Some of you may be wondering why I’d prefer to stretch my payments over 5 years instead of staying on course to pay it all off in three years. It’s really easy. If I pay $6,000 more per month for another 3 years, I’m losing $72,000 in cash flow each year for 3 years. Sure, I’d be completely out of debt in 3 years, but at the expense of $216,000 that I won’t be able to use to increase my personal net worth.

Plus, as soon as the refinance is complete and my monthly cash flow (or profit) increases by $6,000, the value of my video business will increase by roughly $500,000. And, if the economy continues to make it hard on the video production industry, I’ll have $6,000 less I’ll need to generate in sales each month just to keep our heads above water.

I spent a couple days last week approaching several banks with my offer and I should hear back from them in a few days. Overall, my financials are strong. I have 15 years in the industry and 9+ years running this particular video production business so I don’t think I’ll have any issues getting one of the banks to do the deal. But in today’s economy, nothing is guaranteed so I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

So, what does all this mean for you? I suggest that you look at your debt (if you have any) and start crunching some numbers to see if you can refinance the debt with a better interest rate resulting in a lower payment each month. You’ll need the extra cash flow in this down economy and as it starts to turn around, you’ll have extra money to either invest back in your video business or to start building your personal net worth.

One word of caution though. Don’t make any major financial decisions without first consulting your accountant. If you don’t have an accountant, GET ONE! They will save you A LOT of money and headache in the long run.

If and when you decide to approach the banks to refinance your debt, you’ll need to make sure you take the following with you:

2 years business tax returns

2 years personal tax returns

Year-to-date profit/loss statements for your business

Year-to-date balance sheet

List of debts you want to refinance

If your video business is an LLC or corporation, Articles of Incorporation or some type of document that proves you have the authority to borrow that much money for your business.

By having all these documents ready on the first visit, they can actually submit your loan while you are sitting in the bank instead of you having to go back to your studio to gather all the paperwork first. Also, you don’t have to take copies of everything for each bank. They’ll make copies of the above documents for you and give your originals back to you.

Good luck out there! The waters are rough right now but if you stay focused, you will find success in your video production business.